"As you're writing this, are you thinking, 'Oh, man, this is good. People are going to love this'?" NBC's Michelle Kosinski asked EL James, author of Fifty Shades Of Grey, this morning on Today. "No," James replied. Later, she described the book as "kind of raw," and conceded, "I'm not a great writer."

In addition, when asked if there's anything revolutionary about the story she penned, James insisted "absolutely not," and said she is "stunned" and "amazed" by the book's popularity.

And yet! The book — and its sequels — are numbers 1, 2 and 3 on the New York Timesbestseller list. James can't explain the success, but called the fact that the books exist at all "her mid-life crisis."